Counting of votes for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll in Punjab and Vengara assembly constituency in Kerala has begun on Sunday. The Gurdaspur bypoll, which was held on October 11, was necessitated following the demise of BJP MP Vinod Khanna in April. The seat was contested by Congress’s Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar, BJP’s Swaran Salaria and AAP’s Major General (retd) Suresh Khajuria.

The Vengara assembly constituency in Kerala’s Malappuram district also held its bye-elections on October 11. The bypoll was necessitated after IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty vacated the seat to successfully contest the Malappuram Lok Sabha segment.

11.40 am: Celebrations have begun in the Congress camp in Gurdaspur. “This is a beautiful Diwali gift, packed with a red ribbon, for our would be party president Rahul Gandhi,” Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said.

11.30 am: “People of Gurdaspur have sent a strong message of their resentment to policies pursued by Modi ji led Centre,” Sunil Jakhar told reporters.

11.00 am: Congress candidate Jakhar is set for massive win in Gurdaspur with his lead over Salaria climbing to 1,08, 230 votes in what was considered a BJP bastion.

10.50 am: Dera Baba Nanak assembly constituency has turned out to be an advantage for Congress party as it’s candidate was leading with handsome margin of 24, 493 votes after fifth round. Former cabinet minister Sucha Singh Langah had contested unsuccessfully from Dera Baba Nanak constituency in 2012 and 2017 Assembly elections. He was booked in a rape case on September 28, just at the beginning of the Gurdaspur election campaign. The attention of whole campaign got shifted to his alleged crime.

10.23 am: Leaders of the CPM, which has never tasted victory in Vengara since the constituency was formed post delimitation in 2008, privately confided that apart from improving their vote-share, they expected nothing more from the bye-election. Read more here.

10.20 am: “No candidate in any bye-election in Kerala may have gotten such a big majority. This is a great win for us. This victory in Vengara is a sign that nobody can ever defeat the Muslim League and Congress,” PK Kunjalikutty, League national general secretary told reporters.

10.00 am: The Congress-led UDF alliance in Kerala, which includes IUML, has managed to secure a lead of 20,000 votes. However, the margin has decreased when compared to previous performances. “UDF may be winning technically but they are failing politically. Their lead in every panchayat has crashed compared to last Assembly election,” CPM’s Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters.